$128,442 to renovate Centennial sand traps

Wednesday

Sep 12, 2012 at 7:41 PMSep 13, 2012 at 7:21 AM

The Centennial Golf Course is getting a facelift.Oak Ridge Council voted 6-1 Monday night to award a contract to First Place Finish of Oak Ridge in conjunction with Signet Golf Associates to restore and renovate 29 bunkers, or sand traps, throughout the city-owned golf course.

by Beverly Majors/Staff

The Centennial Golf Course is getting a facelift.

Oak Ridge Council voted 6-1 Monday night to award a contract to First Place Finish of Oak Ridge in conjunction with Signet Golf Associates to restore and renovate 29 bunkers, or sand traps, throughout the city-owned golf course. Council member Anne Garcia Garland voted "no" on the resolution.

First Place Finish turned in a bid of $128,442 that includes furnishing tools, labor and materials.

City Manager Mark Watson said the money will come from the Golf Course Fund, stating the course had not been maintained or improved for "many, many years."

Recreation and Parks Director Josh Collins said, in answering a question, if the city doesn't do the maintenance on all 29 bunkers at once, the cost will be higher.

"The course opened in 1997 and nothing has been done since '97," he said. "This is a major redo of bunkers" and would "change the dynamics of the course," as well as addressing the drainage issues.

Collins said the project could not be done using the current staff, but instead requires professionals.

"With the partnership between Signate and Billy Casper, you get a 'bang for your buck,'" Collins said.

Billy Casper Golf manages Centennial for the city.

Collins said the project, when completed, will be a "25-year fix."

"There's been no work since '97, that's a pretty good run," he said.

Collins explained the Golf Fund is not part of the city's Capital Improvement Plan, but a separate, maintenance fund. When asked about putting the project off, he said, "Now's the time. We could put it off but it might cost $160,000 next year."

Garcia Garland asked several questions relating to the project and called it a "liability" instead of an asset, as Collins had, stating the city "is paying for its own improvements. I don't see any benefits."

Collins said the "dollars coming in pay for expenses," adding operations are "based on anticipated revenue coming in."

Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller said the golf course is an investment and "we need to take care of it." She said the course attracts "half-million dollar homes" and the homeowners pay property taxes. She also called the golf course a "quality of life" issue that's no different than renovating the Oak Ridge Marina waterfront.

"I'm in favor of it, we need to get on with it (the vote)," Miller said.

Trina Baughn, a City Council candidate, told Council the golf course was one of the city's biggest tax issues and she wasn't in favor of "flushing good money on bad."

First Place Finish of Oak Ridge, which is owned by Laurel Patrick, was contracted last September to install poured-in-place rubber safety surfacing at the newly rebuilt Cedar Hill Park Playground. Patrick is also a member of the city's Recreation and Parks Advisory Board.